Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1887-02-05

A MIssOURIAN's VIEW OF THE ''GOL-
DEN WEST" AND THE ROUTE HE
TOOK TO REACH IT, WITH A
FEW SKETCHES OF WHAT BE
SAW AND FELT WHILE EN-
JOYING A TWO MONTHS
STAY WITH FRIENDS
ON THE SHORES OF
THE PACIFIC.
EDITOR INTELLIGENCER:-1 was on
my way up the Devils Gorge, when l
stopped to rest at the close of my last
letter. did not, as was suggested by
our guide, take any of his satanic
majesty's ink, to make memoranda of
what saw and felt as we passed up
this wonderful gorge in the mountains.
Still impressions were made OH the tab
let of the mind, and will try to relate
them here. In my last letter l said
that the steam Qrom the geysers) rose
higher in the morning your eompositor
makes me say the stream rises higher;
slight, but very serious difference in
the meaning of the two words, and the
ideas conveyed by them. 1t is the little
things, like the little foxes mentioned
by the ancient prophet, that often does
the harm, Let US avoid them, even
though it be but to make stream out OF
steam. AS our party, composed Of
ladies and gentleman, wended their
way slowly up the gorge, we passed
two stalwart men, one OF them Ger
man. They had climbed up the path
way step by step until they had reach
ed point where the steam was coming
out of the ground all about them, and
things were hot in every direction, ex-
cept above them. They had stopped
and we're debating whether they could
risk going any further. When we
came up to them, our guide said.
''Here is spring where eggs can be
boiled" The young lady from Phila-
delphia had provided herself with some
| VI IHls IL ulI " pAONO LILO olui o
of this spring. So the guide impro-
vised a basket out of some brush, and
tying up couple of eggs in q handker-
chief, proceeded to demonstrate the
truth OF his statements, and actually
boiled the eggs in this spring in the
presence of us all, and did it in few
minutes. When he had finished hia
JOB of cooking the two men suddenly
concluded to turn back, and as start
ed on up higher, the German said to
me, "Good bye; if you get through
safely let me know what you saw and
heard l was afraid that possibly
through his timidity, he might incline
our fair companions to turn 0back too,
but found them to be OF sterQaTsstpn
After leaving the spring in IHa3fh .tht
eggs were boiled, we sS4148 q. 4
flight of steps and over iv61nfs
enough to burn our shoes, to;1asp1rl
known as the "DeviPs Pulpit" yl
the right and below us, as we looket
|, down the gorge from this pulpitS W.
could see and hear the rumbling OF tn
"Devips Grist Mill" 1t sounded exact
I ly like the rumbling OF the stones in II
i, old fashioned mill in full blast. Th
D steam was rising from a number o
J tissues in the ground, and the smell o
sulphur was on all things around. Tn
sounds emitted from this seething mas
of rock, earth, sulphur and water wer
} ominous in the extreme, and brOugh
to mind the alarm of the old Dutch
man who was about to camp near th
Hot Springs of Arkansas. Some Q
D you readers will recall what he said t,
his son John about driving on, and tn
n proximity of his satanic majesty
dominions. We had passed the hotties
part of the gorge when we reached tn
D pulpit, and hence we could safely STAN
n and gaze from that point for some littl
while, and during the stOppage Ou
loquacious guide undertook to give u
history of this gorge, and how th
U various portions of it got their names
He said that the mill was used b
S .tan in preparing his meals, tina
. after eating he would repair to th
pulpit and descaut upon the beautie
of his suIpherous regions to his willin
= subjects who braved the dangers of tn
locality in their eager search ate
% gold. That tradition said that on on
occasion latter having filed himself ful
. from his grist mill and delivered on
10 to the top of high mountain jul
across the way, and laid down to res
W and tell asleep, from which he neve
N woke, and pointing to high noun
tain to the left OF us, and about one
halt mile distant, he said, "There h
70 lies now, fast asleep; don't you Sc
himN And we said yes, for in imagi
10 nation we thought we did, as we ha
~ often seen images in the evenin
~ clouds, or in the glowing fires. at th
end OF weary winters day. LiE
- most of the stories recitsd by Ou
u guide there was more fiction than fac
After resting and gazing about u
and picking up specimens of sulphu
a and rock, we continued on and u
until we reached the Devils Arcf
= way" formed by the falling of a
old tree across the way, the branche
:, of which, together with the rock, mad
* it necessary for all passers that wa
~ to stoop and go under it. One of ou
$ party said she would rebel, and woul
a not bow TO the devil, nor pass unde
n his arch. So she tried to pass abov
# and around it, but meeting obstacle
she came back and su5missivelv passe
a under the old tree, as all others ha
~ to do. Near this arch we came to
n cool water spring from which ou
;. party drank refreshing water. w
II then turned our course downward b
K another way, which brought us I
+ what is rightly called the ''SteambOt
p. Spring" This spring got Its nam
n fro:n the noise it makes, which coul
- be heard distinctly for several hundre
!. yards and made Il noise AS an Old hig
,r pressure single engine steamboat III
a on the Missouri river forty years sgC
4 The water of this spring Was boilin
hot, and the noise was made by tt
!, water bnbbling up through the groun
~ and out at Il hole about one foot
% diameter. Sometimes the water woul
gush out two or three feet. 1t woul
have SCALED one in moment. Ju
below this Steamboat Spring, and ne
more than t~ enty feet. was another ii
sure from which steam issued cOnstan
X ly, making noise like the steam th,
10 escapes from locomotive engine on
l. railroad. This was called the Railroa
Spring, and its water was steamin
b hot. Passing by these two note
} springs we came to what appeared [
l. be the crater of all old, exhauste
volcano. 1t was mound shaped maj
lie of burnt earth and ashes, that quake
g and trembled when walked over | q
10 upOu the ton of this masa and inmna